France's national rugby union team first played Argentina in 1949 when they undertook a two-test tour of the latter country. France won both matches.[1] Argentina did not manage a win over France until their 16th meeting in 1985, under the captaincy of Hugo Porta.[1]
France has been Argentina's most frequent Test match opponent. France played a significant role in the early development of Argentine rugby in which the two countries played each other 13 times between 1949 and 1977. In total the two countries have met 50 times, with France winning 35 games, Argentina 14 and one game drawn.
The teams have played each other three times at Rugby World Cup tournaments: In 1999 France won a quarter-final, and in 2007 Argentina beat France 17-12 in the tournament-opening pool game and again 34-10 in the playoff for third and fourth place after Argentina had lost to tournament winners South Africa in the semi-final. Even though Argentina had shown strong form in the year leading up to the tournament (winning 10 of 13 Test matches plus a one-point loss to France), the opening-game win was regarded as an upset by the media.[2][3]
Though about two thirds of the games have been played on Argentina's ground, France has managed to win more than two thirds of them. France won the only match the two have played on neutral ground.
The biggest difference in point was achieve by France during their second game of their 2012 tour to Argentina, winning 49 to 10.
Since 2000, the series has been especially closely fought, though Argentina have had the upper hand. In the 13 matches played in that time frame, the Pumas are 8–5, but eight of the matches were decided by a converted try (7 points) or less.
When the IRB introduced their world team rankings system in 2003, Argentina were ranked 7th and France 5th.[4] Since then the ranking changed frequently and the two teams order was reversed many times like in March 2009, when Argentina climbed to 4th place and France fell to seventh.[5] Most recently, following Argentina's win in the first of their two-Test series in June 2012, the two teams switched places in the rankings with the Pumas in 6th and France in 7th but after their second game a week later, which saw France won by 39 points, France climbed back to the 5th place and Argentina drop to 8th.
Summary
Overview
| Details |
Played |
Won by
 Argentina |
Won by
 France |
Drawn |
Argentina points |
France points |
| In Argentina |
32 |
9 |
22 |
1 |
465 |
780 |
| In France |
17 |
5 |
12 |
0 |
293 |
388 |
| Neutral venue |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
26 |
47 |
| Overall |
50 |
14 |
35 |
1 |
784 |
1215 |
Records
Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set.
| Record |
Argentina |
France |
| Longest winning streak |
4 (15 Jun 2002–25 Nov 2006) |
12 (28 Aug 1949–2 Jul 1977) |
| Largest points for |
| Home |
41 (26 June 2010) |
39 (17 November 2012) |
| Away |
34 (19 October 2007) |
49 (23 June 2012) |
| Largest winning margin |
| Home |
28 (26 June 2010) |
23 (19 October 1975) |
| Away |
24 (19 October 2007) |
39 (23 June 2012) |
Results
| No. |
Date |
Venue |
Score |
Winner |
Competition |
|---|
| 50 |
25 June 2016 |
Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán |
0 – 27 |
France |
France test series |
| 49 |
19 June 2016 |
Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán |
30 – 19 |
Argentina |
| 48 |
22 November 2014 |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
13 – 18 |
Argentina |
2014 end-of-year rugby union internationals |
| 47 |
17 November 2012 |
Grand Stade Lille Métropole, Lille |
39 – 22 |
France |
2012 end of year rugby union tests |
| 46 |
23 June 2012 |
Estadio José Fierro, Tucumán |
10 – 49 |
France |
2012 France Tour |
| 45 |
16 June 2012 |
Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba |
23 – 20 |
Argentina |
| 44 |
20 November 2010 |
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier |
15 – 9 |
France |
2010 end of year rugby union tests |
| 43 |
26 June 2010 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
41 – 13 |
Argentina |
|
| 42 |
8 November 2008 |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
12 – 6 |
France |
2008 end of year rugby union tests |
| 41 |
19 October 2007 |
Parc des Princes, Paris |
10 – 34 |
Argentina |
2007 Rugby World Cup third-place match |
| 40 |
7 September 2007 |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
12 – 17 |
Argentina |
2007 Rugby World Cup |
| 39 |
25 November 2006 |
Stade de France, Saint-Denis |
27 – 26 |
France |
2006 end of year rugby union tests |
| 38 |
20 November 2004 |
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille |
14 – 24 |
Argentina |
2004 end of year rugby union tests |
| 37 |
20 June 2003 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
33 – 32 |
Argentina |
2003 France Tour |
| 36 |
14 June 2003 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
10 – 6 |
Argentina |
| 35 |
15 June 2002 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
28 – 27 |
Argentina |
2002 France Tour |
| 34 |
24 October 1999 |
Lansdowne Road, Dublin |
26 – 47 |
France |
1999 Rugby World Cup |
| 33 |
14 November 1998 |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes |
34 – 14 |
France |
1998 Argentina Tour |
| 32 |
20 June 1998 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
12 – 37 |
France |
1998 France Tour |
| 31 |
13 June 1998 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
18 – 35 |
France |
| 30 |
26 October 1997 |
Stade Maurice Trélut, Tarbes |
32 – 27 |
France |
Latin Cup 1997 |
| 29 |
29 June 1996 |
Estadio Etcheverry, Buenos Aires |
15 – 34 |
France |
1996 France Tour |
| 28 |
22 June 1996 |
Estadio Etcheverry, Buenos Aires |
27 – 34 |
France |
| 27 |
21 October 1995 |
Estadio Etcheverry, Buenos Aires |
12 – 47 |
France |
Latin Cup 1995 |
| 26 |
14 November 1992 |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes |
20 – 24 |
Argentina |
1992 Argentine Tour |
| 25 |
11 July 1992 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
9 – 33 |
France |
1992 France Tour |
| 24 |
4 July 1992 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
12 – 27 |
France |
| 23 |
11 November 1988 |
Stadium Lille-Metropole, Lille |
28 – 18 |
France |
1988 Argentine Tour |
| 22 |
5 November 1988 |
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes |
29 – 9 |
France |
| 21 |
25 June 1988 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
18 – 6 |
Argentina |
1988 France Tour |
| 20 |
18 June 1988 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
15 – 18 |
France |
| 19 |
7 June 1986 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
9 – 22 |
France |
1986 France Tour |
| 18 |
31 May 1986 |
Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires |
15 – 13 |
Argentina |
| 17 |
29 June 1985 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
15 – 23 |
France |
1985 France Tour |
| 16 |
22 June 1985 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
24 – 16 |
Argentina |
| 15 |
20 November 1982 |
Parc des Princes, Paris |
13 – 6 |
France |
1982 Argentine Tour |
| 14 |
14 November 1982 |
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse |
25 – 12 |
France |
| 13 |
2 July 1977 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
18 – 18 |
draw |
1977 France Tour |
| 12 |
25 June 1977 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
3 – 26 |
France |
| 11 |
25 October 1975 |
Parc des Princes, Paris |
36 – 21 |
France |
1975 Argentina Tour |
| 10 |
19 October 1975 |
Stade de Gerland, Lyon |
29 – 6 |
France |
| 9 |
29 June 1974 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
27 – 31 |
France |
1974 France Tour |
| 8 |
20 June 1974 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
15 – 20 |
France |
| 7 |
17 August 1960 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
6 – 29 |
France |
1960 France Tour |
| 6 |
6 August 1960 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
3 – 12 |
France |
| 5 |
23 July 1960 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
3 – 37 |
France |
| 4 |
12 September 1954 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
3 – 30 |
France |
1954 France tour |
| 3 |
29 August 1954 |
Ferro Carrill Oeste, Buenos Aires |
8 – 22 |
France |
| 2 |
4 September 1949 |
Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires |
3 – 12 |
France |
1949 France Tour |
| 1 |
28 August 1949 |
Estadio G.E.B.A., Buenos Aires |
0 – 5 |
France |
References